1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to the art of contact body elements for gas and liquid contact apparatus, and more particularly, to an improvement to the double-folded edge construction disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,801,419, the disclosure of which is specifically incorporated herein by reference. The improvement includes introducing an adhesive within the fold of the longitudinal edge such that the longitudinal edge and the adhesive form a substantially rigid ply that is substantially resistant to erosion. The longitudinally extending edge is thus able to withstand higher compressive forces and will not separate from the sheet in cases of high edge erosion thereby increasing the life expectancy of the fill and facilitating the handling and installation of the fill.
2. Description of the Art
A variety of different types of contact bodies have evolved for use in forming cooling tower fills. Representative of such contact bodies are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,500,615 to Meek, 3,574,032 to Norback et al., and 4,225,540 to Kauschke. The primary goals of these contact bodies have been to reduce costs and minimize the weight of the resulting cooling tower structure or the air or gas scrubber. To achieve these goals, corrugated sheets with a reduced thickness are employed. However, with the reduction in thickness, there is a resulting loss in strength and the sheets including the fill, particularly at their edges, are often subject to damage, either during handling the initial flow of liquid, or more importantly, by high edge erosion.
In an attempt to strengthen the edges of the fill, as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,395,903 and 3,574,032, corrugated sheets are secured together by means of glue beads which are applied along the edges of the layers, preferably along the upper and lower edges thereof. Additionally, it has been suggested in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,395,903 and 3,574,032, that the mechanical strength of the layers or sheets can be improved by applying a plastic or resin in the form of a continuous bead along the layer edges, which when solidified, forms an additional strengthening edge-bulge. Further, according to U.S. Pat. No. 3,500,615 it is known to provide the corrugated strips with a bead of plastic material to toughen the face edges. However, although an adhesive has been applied to the edges of the corrugated sheets, the adhesive was not always able to withstand substantially higher compressive forces and high edge erosion.